Breathing Him In
by fmdevil
Summary: One of Nami's attempts to add to the Straw-hat's treasure stock fails, and she finds herself in desperate need of help. Luckily Zoro comes to her rescue, again. Nami decides to finally admit her feelings for him (in her own way), and show him just how grateful she really is. Rated LM for LeMon


Normal disclaimer bull: I don't own One Piece blah blah blah…

And fair warning: this story contains explicit sexual content (but I always try my best to not make it vulgar). Hope you all enjoy.

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**Breathing Him In**

Nami had screwed up, big.

The crew had landed on a fairly-large new island: the climate of the island was cold, dark, and dreary, it looked as if it could rain at any time, but despite the look of the island, Nami had sensed no coming rain so she had only advised the crew to wear warmer clothing such as long sleeve-shirts and sweaters; of course Luffy and Zoro both ignored her suggestion and stuck to their normal attires, insisting that cold doesn't bother them. Deciding that she could put fashion aside for once to make sure her health stayed intact; the mikan-head chose to wear a simple t-shirt along with a pair of her blue-jeans, as well as a dark-hooded sweatshirt and a pair of sneakers instead of her normal sandals. And after the remainder of the crew was appropriately dressed, they set out to explore the island.

While exploring the island they happened to notice another huge pirate-ship docked on another shore which caused their hyperactive captain to want to get closer to investigate the other ship as he sensed another adventure, which led the entire crew to stumble across the owners of ship's camp and run into a rather large rival pirate crew. They immediately got dragged into combat with the other crew, which wasn't really a big deal because the other crew was no match for the strength of the Straw-hats, but the other crew was vast in numbers, having well over 200 crew members. And because of the sheer size of the other crew; the Straw-hats were taking longer to defeat them then they would have preferred. But Nami, being the ever-opportunist, saw the extended battle as a great opportunity to make some extra beli for herself and the crew (but mainly herself) by sneaking onto the enemy ship to steal all of their treasure.

She snuck off by herself and boarded the enemy ship. She was able to quickly dispatch the few guards who had been left on board to stand watch, and she was able to navigate through the large ship to the captain's quarters where all the good treasure would be held. After finding the treasure; she made several trips to drag it to the deck of the large ship and piled it near a row boat. She was in the clear; all she had to do was load the treasure onto the small boat and paddle it over to the 1000 Sunny, and then her and the rest of Straw-hats would be set for months… at least that was what she thought until she felt something collide with the back of her head before everything went black.

-0-0-0-0-

As Nami started to awaken the first thing she noticed was the pounding pain in her head. She could feel a hard wood surface underneath her, and judging by the way it was swaying, as well as splashing sounds around her, she could tell she was in some kind of boat. She opened her eyes and noticed that she was indeed in a boat, the row boat she was going to use to steal the treasure with to be precise, and she wasn't alone.

Nami immediately recognized the other person in the small boat as the enemy's first-mate. He was a very large muscular man with dark skin. He had no visible hair which only made the numerous scars covering his head that much more visible. But it wasn't the scars on his head that stood out the most; it was the large scar that spanned across his throat. His attention wasn't on her; instead he was looking directly in front of him as he was paddling them somewhere.

Realizing the danger she was in, Nami started to try and stand to her feet to hopefully escape from her co-passenger, but quickly realized she was having problems doing so. Her trouble to stand was caused by her hands being chained together with heavy-thick-metal shackles, as were both of her feet, but the shackles on her feet were also accompanied with another chain leading to a very heavy ball.

The scarred man noticed her movements and stopped paddling. Without uttering a single word or syllable he stood up and crossed the short distance between them in the small boat before hovering over her.

Not knowing what the man had in store for her; Nami started to search herself for her clima-tact, which was luckily still located on the inside of her hoodie, now all she had to do was distract him and then maybe she would be able to grab her weapon and attack him. "Now wait just a minute big-guy." She began to speak to her captor as she extended one arm in front of her to stop the man, while she slowly started to unzip her hoodie with her other. "Maybe we can talk about this for a moment, no need to be ra…"

She wasn't able to finish her sentence as the large man quickly reached down towards her and grabbed her by the throat with only one arm, suddenly yanking her into the air with force. She quickly reached for his arm with both of hers, and wrapped her hands around his forearm to try and relieve some of the pressure off her throat. The enemy wasn't some simpleton and had seen through her plan. All she could do was desperately try to claw at his arm to hope he would release his hold on her, but that plan soon fell through as well as the man swung her entire body over the edge of the boat so that the heavy-ball attached to her leg shackles would just barely hover over the water. Realizing the man's intentions; the terrified mikan-head gave him a pleading look, only to be met by a stern-unsympathetic glare in return.

Knowing that she would receive no mercy; Nami's desperately tried to call out to her nakama but to no avail, as the tight grip around her throat restricted her from being able to speak. So she tried to summon them with her mind instead. '_Luffy… Zoro… anyone… please help me!_' She felt the hold on her neck let go right before her body started to plummet towards the water. She consciously took a deep breath and let her eyes travel over to the nearby beach, and just before she was completely submerged under the cold water; she could have sworn that just for a moment, she saw a flash of green moving across the beach. But as she sank the fear made her start to doubt what she had seen; she wondered if it could have been her mind playing tricks on her.

She soon felt her feet make contact with the sea bed; she wasn't very deep, maybe 8 feet (243cm) at the most from the surface of the water. She desperately kicked her feet and started to try and thrust herself upwards with her hands in the water, but the ball attached to her leg shackles was too heavy, it didn't even budge from where it had landed on the sea bed. She inwardly cursed at herself for the fact that she had chosen to put on more layers of clothes, because as they started to soak completely through, it only weighted her down even more; which with the added weight of the shackles on both her arms and legs, she found her movements very restricted, and she was quickly growing exhausted from her physical struggle, as well as her lungs were beginning to reach their limits.

She looked up to the surface of the water and noticed the small boat starting to move away from her; the worst part was it was so close to her that it almost seemed like it was teasing her to try and reach for it, which she did. She furiously kicked her legs with all her strength, so much so that she felt a muscle pop and the skin on her ankles start to tear as they rubbed up against the hard metal that was bounding her. She wanted to yelp out in pain but knew if she did she would release too much of her precious air. She quickly realized that her struggle was in vain as the small boat kept getting farther away from her, but she continued to try and reach for it anyway. She was just about to give up and let the cold water take her when she let her mind call out to one of her nakama one more time. '_Dammit Zoro; where are you?_'

Suddenly she noticed something change in the water as she saw it splitting in a distinctive line towards the small boat that was now several meters away from her, before the boat ended up being split directly in half itself. She watched as the only occupant of the boat fell into the water completely motionless as blood started pouring from and surrounding his quickly sinking body. Nami watched in shock as her former captor's lifeless body settled on the sea bed several meters away, but out of her peripheral vision she could see a form covered in green quickly swimming towards her. As the form quickly approached her she was able to make it out more clearly; and she nearly let out a sigh of relief to see the familiar face of Zoro; he had his sword Suushui in his left hand as he was propelling himself towards her with his feet, but she couldn't be relieved just yet, because her lungs were at their limit.

As he drew only about an arm's length away, she desperately brought her hands up to motion towards her chest to emphasize her immediate need of air while giving him a pleading look and hoping he understood. The swordsman gave her a slight nod before closing the rest of the gap between them; reaching out with his right arm, he wrapped his hand behind her head and roughly pulled her face into his, placing his lips directly onto hers. The mikan-head was shocked by his actions, she didn't understand his intentions. '_What the hell is he doing?_' She thought as her hands instinctively went to his chest to try and push him off of her. '_This isn't the time for this baka to be trying to make a move on me, I'm drowning here._' As he continued to hold his lips onto hers, she could feel him forcefully blowing air in-between the very small gap of her lips and into her mouth. Her eyes grew wide as the realization of what he was doing dawned on her, and the pain in her lungs already started to feel some relief from the new air traveling to them.

Her hands quit trying to push him away, and instead clenched themselves into the fabric of his yukata, pulling him in as close to her body as she could. She opened her mouth just wide enough to let in more air without letting water in as well as she greedily began to suck in the air that he was offering her. But she stopped doing so after a moment and completely broke the lip contact as she realized that she might have been being too greedy; after all, he would need air as well. The mikan-head looked into his one good eye and tried to give him an apologetic look for her selfishness. She expected to see a look of anger or concern from the swordsman, but was surprised to find only the calmest expression on his face that she had ever seen instead. Out of the bottom corner of her eye she could see his left arm starting to circle around her as he started to put Suushui back in its sheath, before tightening both of his arms around her waist. She could also feel the both of them starting to ascend in the water towards the surface. Sometime during the whole exchange of giving her his air he had cut the chain that was attached to the heavy-metal ball on her shackles, ridding them of the excessive weight. Within seconds their heads broke the surface of the water, allowing them both to be able to intake the much needed crisp cold air above them. Nami was saved.

With their heads now above water, Zoro spoke to her. "Oi witch; put your arms around my neck and I'll swim us to shore."

Nami was only happy to comply. Her tired muscles strained to lift her arms, along with the shackles still bounding them, out of the water so she could place one on each side of his head before locking them together around his neck. She laid her head on his shoulder as he swam backwards, supporting both of their weights while making sure to keep her head above water. Once on shore Zoro lifted her up bridal style to carry her away from the tide, before setting her down onto the sandy beach. Nami could hear him saying something to her, but was in too much of a daze for the words to register the first time.

"Oi..! Are you listening?" Zoro barked out demanding her attention. "Lay your legs out flat and put your arms out in front of you and I'll cut these chains off you." With her arms a little shaky from the effects of the fatigue; she did as she was told with no complaint or worry showing on her face, in fact there was no emotion on her face what so ever, it was completely blank as if her mind was in another place all together.

Zoro drew Suushui again, and with a couple flicks of the wrist; he was able to cut through the shackles with ease, causing the ones that had been bounding her wrists to fall to the sand. With the metal-bounds destroyed, the swordsman sheathed his sword and then kneeled in front of Nami to pick up the offending items and toss them aside. He then proceeded to methodically check the navigator for injuries; grabbing and checking her wrists first, noticing the darkening bruises already starting to form. He squeezed them lightly to see if either were sprained, but got no response from the woman. He had been talking to her while he was going about the task that he had assigned himself, but she again didn't seem to be paying attention and wasn't responding. He decided to not dwell on her lack of interest, and continued checking her by switching to her ankles and legs.

Nami's legs were in much worse shape; as even though she had been wearing socks, he could see small amounts of blood bleeding through from where the metal shackles had torn her skin from when she was thrashing. He removed her shoes and socks and let out a small sigh of relief when he saw the bleeding wasn't serious, but the bruises around her ankles were much darker than her wrists, and her ankles were already starting to swell. Zoro applied pressure to one of the ankles, which finally caused her to respond by letting out a small wince of pain, but was still not the reaction he had expected from her. After her wince subsided she simply went back to her blank expression, as her eyes were looking through him rather than at him: there was no anger, no name calling, no violent outburst, no vibrant and spunky passion that the mikan-head was known for. Genuine worry started to show on the swordsman's face as he realized something was wrong.

Zoro looked her directly in the eye and spoke to her to try and grab her attention, but she did not respond. He spoke again, this time louder, but still no response. Finally beginning to feel desperate in his concern; he reached out with both of his arms, firmly grasping her arms right below her shoulders, and began to shake her. His actions worked, as the next words he spoke finally got through. "Nami; are you ok?!"

As his words registered; Nami found herself starting to overflow with emotions. She tried to speak, but couldn't as she could feel the tears starting to well up into her eyes. The navigator tried to avert her gaze, afraid that the swordsman might think lower of her if she broke down in front of him. But the more she tried to fight the emotions, the harder it became: her entire body started to tremble, her breathing became rapid and un-controllable, the realization of how much danger she had actually been in completely registered, she had been only moments away from dying, and in a very horrible way at that. To her knowledge she had never been that close before; sure there were times when she thought there could have been a chance, especially with the crazy risks her captain takes, but deep down she had always known they would all pull through. But this time was different. This time she had actually for a brief moment given up hope. She hadn't felt that helpless since back when she thought there was no hope for Cocoyasi Village after Arlong's betrayal.

With her lips quivering and the trembling of her body growing more severe; Nami chanced a glance into Zoro's one good eye. The swordsman remained silent as he took notice of the emotional look on her face. He responded only with a nod, but it was more than just a normal nod; it was a nod to assure her that he would not look down on her, that it was alright to let it out, and let it out she did. Her flood-dam of emotions completely burst as she began to sob and wail furiously. She reached out with both of her arms, grabbing Zoro by his yukata, and pulling her head forcefully towards him to bury it and cry against his chest.

Not really sure how to react to the mikan-head who was now sobbing hysterically into his chest; he simply placed one hand on her back in between her shoulders, occasionally moving it in small circles, as he continued to sit there in silence, determined to let her get out all of her frustrations, and giving her as much time as she would need.

-0-0-0-0-

After Nami had composed herself, and her and Zoro had shared a long awkward moment of silence; the mikan-head and the swordsman started trudging their way through the thick timber that covered the majority of the island. With Nami's legs being legitimately injured, Zoro made no argument when she requested for him to carry her on his back.

Having not witnessed what direction the enemy's first-mate had took her unconscious body at the time, Nami only had a general idea of where they were now located on the fairly-large island and had to rely on Zoro's sense of direction to make their way back towards the ship. "Are you sure we're going in the right direction baka?" The navigator asked her nakama for the fifth time in the last hour.

"For the last damn time witch; yes, we are going in the right damn direction!" The swordsman irritably barked at her. "It's not my fault you have no sense of direction."

"This coming from the guy who gets lost on the ship trying to go from the men's quarters out to the deck. How are you sure we're going in the right direction?"

"I'm using Kenbunshoku Haki and tracking Luffy and the rest. They are straight out in front of us." He states in a matter of fact like tone, while pointing his hand out in the direction the crew was supposed to be in. But Nami can't help but notice that he comes to a complete stop, and his arm starts to bend to confirm that he is no longer sure of himself. "Shit; those idiots went and moved again, now they are over there." Zoro mumbled as he pointed his hand in a completely different direction than what it had been only moments before.

Nami could only shake her head in disbelief; she had noticed him zigzagging through trees opposed to walking in a straight line some time ago, but had chosen not to say anything fearing that if they got into an argument it would only halt their progress in making it back to their nakama. But she could no longer hold back her opinion. "You baka..!" She screamed almost directly into his ear, before letting her fist come down and collide with the back of his head. "You are completely hopeless, you know that? You can't even manage to walk in a straight line for more than ten steps without turning in a completely different direction. It's no wonder we've been walking through this forest for more than an hour now."

He let out a low "Tch" sound to try and come off as if he was irritated by her reprimanding, but in all honesty he was actually glad to hear her scolding him. He was relieved because she seemed to already be back to her old self opposed to the Nami that he had seen on the beach. He had hated seeing her like that. Hated not knowing what to do or say to help her. He would have done anything not to see her cry. He would let her yell at him until he went deaf. Let her hit him until he was completely covered with bruises. Hell; he would even let her indebt him and blackmail him until he was certain he would never stop owing her for as long as he lived if he would never have to watch her cry like that again…

…SMACK…

"You've turned directions again baka!" Nami screamed again, this time grabbing his head with both of her hands and turning it back towards the direction he had pointed in earlier.

Nami found herself sighing. She actually felt bad about treating him the way she was. Not only had he rescued her, again, but now she was using him as her personal pack-mule. Even though she had originally been nervous about breaking down in front of him, she was actually relieved by the way he handled it. He didn't sit there and "shhh" her, or try to tell her things like "It's ok" and "don't cry, I'm here", instead he just let her get it out of her system. The most surprising part; was that when she looked up at him after she was done crying, he didn't give her a sympathetic look, or one of pity, it was a look of simple understanding, and she realized that what she actually had needed most at that moment was for someone to understand.

Nami felt a cold chill run through her entire body as the wind around them started to pick up. She buried her face into the base of the swordsman's neck and in-between his shoulder blades. A warming sensation flooded her face as she immediately noticed the familiar scent of sweat and steel from being so close to him. But the warming sensation would be short lived as another cold wind would cut through her soaking wet clothes, reminding her of why she wanted to get back to the ship as fast as possible.

"Zoro; how far away are we from the rest of the group?" She asked in a muffled voice as her body started to tremble from the cold.

"We're still a ways away." He told her in a calm voice. "I'd say about five or six kilometers."

Nami let out a disgruntled groan from the news he had given her. Night was approaching fast, and the air was getting colder by the moment. They needed to find some type of shelter and fast. "We gotta find someplace to make camp, at least until our clothes dry. If it gets any colder we're gonna catch hypothermia." Nami looked around their surroundings and noticed a circle of decently large trees that could block some of the wind. "There" she said aloud, pointing towards the circle for Zoro to see. "We'll make camp there. It should block some of the wind, and there is plenty of wood around for us to start a fire."

Zoro only nodded in understanding and moved towards the trees she was pointing at. Once inside the circle, he let Nami down to the ground, immediately noticing that she started to hug herself to try and keep warm in spite of the cooling night air. He quickly gathered a decent amount of nearby wood to start a fire, somewhat afraid for the mikan-head's health if he didn't hurry. After only a couple of moments of using the method of rubbing two dry sticks together to cause friction, he had the fire going; just in time for the sun to completely descended into the horizon.

With the fire now burning, Nami scooted as close to it as she could without being in any danger of it burning her, with Zoro only a few feet away continuing to throw wood on it. Though the fire was warm, it still wasn't hot enough to warm her through her soaked clothes. She stared at Zoro for a moment, also noticing how wet his clothes still were, and even though he showed no signs of the cold getting to him, she knew it wasn't safe for his health to remain the way he was. Nami couldn't believe what she was about to say and do, but it had to be done.

"Zoro" Nami spoke up to grab the man's attention. "Take off your clothes and close your eyes." She said very quickly while averting her gaze, hoping that he wouldn't see the blush on her face.

"What..?" Zoro yelled out in shock. "Where the hell did that come from witch?"

"Both of our clothes are soaked all the way through with cold water. It's not healthy to stay in them, plus if we don't share each other's body heat we're gonna freeze to death." She explained to the swordsman as her embarrassed expression turned into an angry one instead. "Now take off your clothes, sit down, and close your eyes."

"Hell no!" He yelled back at her in protest. "There's no way I'm going to just strip down and share my body heat with you just like that. Besides; I'm not even cold." The truth was he had actually been cold only moments before, but the thought of navigator's naked body being so close to his cured him of that, and he now found himself very heated.

"Fine" Nami said with a huff. "Be that way baka. Just out of curiosity though; what are you going to tell the rest of the crew when they find out I died of hypothermia because you were too nervous to be around a naked woman?" She said the last part with a hint of mischievousness to her voice, knowing that the thought of him letting his crew down simply because of a matter of pride wouldn't be something he could do.

Zoro let out a frustrated "Argh" after realizing that Nami had just won the argument. "You really are a witch, you know that?" He then proceeded to remove his three katana from his sash and leaning them against a nearby tree before quickly disrobing the rest of his clothing and tossing it down un-ceremonially in a crumpled pile on the ground next to fire.

Nami sat completely frozen in place, somewhat because of how surprised she was by how easily she had won that argument, but mostly because she found herself staring at the now nude figure of the swordsman nearby. A heavy blush formed on her face as her heartbeat started to quicken; she could only stare in bewilderment, taken aback by how boldly he had removed his clothes and the complete lack of embarrassment on his face that now stared down at her intently. In fact; if she had to give a name for the expression on his face, she would say it was one of irritation.

"Well what the hell are you waiting for woman?" He barked at the mikan-head who had yet to avert her eyes.

After hearing his words, Nami was quickly brought back to reality. She finally removed her eyes from his body, choosing to stare at the fire instead before answering him. "Are you a damn caveman? Don't just stand there in front of me with everything hanging out. Sit down by the fire and close your eyes."

Zoro let out a "Tch" sound as he did what she asked. He sat down crossed-legged as close to the fire as he could without being in danger of being burned, directly beside the stack of firewood that he had gathered, and within an arms reach away from his three precious katana. He then crossed his arms over his chest, almost in a pout, before firmly closing his one good eye.

Somewhat convinced that Zoro could no longer see her; Nami stood up and began undressing herself, carefully laying out her wet clothes neatly by the fire so they would dry. When she got down to just her underwear, she chanced another glance at the swordsman to make sure that his eye remained closed. "You better not be peeking. If you are, I'm gonna triple your debt. Do I make myself clear?"

"I ain't peeking dammit." He answered her sternly without even turning his head towards her and getting more irritated by the moment. "Now would you hurry the hell up before I change my mind and just let you freeze?"

With a quick "Hmph" sound, Nami removed her bra and panties, laying them neatly next to her hooded sweat-shirt before gingerly moving towards Zoro. Once she had crossed the small distance to him; she proceeded to try and figure out a comfortable way of sitting in his lap without being in any position that either could conceive as sexual. She chose to sit sideways across his crossed legs. She placed one hand on his shoulder to help lower her down to use one of his knees as a seat, before lifting her feet from the ground and bringing them up to rest on his other knee. The position wasn't the most comfortable, but it would provide her with the most warmth because her knees were brought up almost all the way to her chest. She then removed her one hand from his shoulder before crossing both of her arms over her chest and telling the swordsman "Wrap your arms around me, it will provide us both with just a little more warmth."

Zoro let out a small growl in disapproval, but did as she asked. "Anything else you want me to do, your highness?" He asked her in a mock tone as he removed both arms from over his own chest, wrapping them behind her and around her knees, before locking his hand around his wrist and roughly pulling her against him.

Nami winced a little at the excessive force he used. She shot him a glare, but noticed his grip slacken slightly after her wince, and even though his eye was shut closed and he didn't say anything, she could see an apologetic look on his face for causing her discomfort. She decided to cut him a little slack, knowing that he was just as, if not more so, uncomfortable than she was at the moment. She actually found it quite endearing how she knew that he had sacrificed some of his own pride for her wellbeing, and that he had maintained at least a little chivalry in keeping his eye closed the entire time and not peaking like she had asked him to.

"You can open your eyes now if you want." She told him in a quiet voice, as a small smile crossed her lips. "Everything you haven't seen is covered."

Zoro let out a muffled "Hmph" before opening his eye. It never once glanced over Nami or her body, but instead went directly to the fire in front of them. "What do we now?" He asked her while his eye watched the yellow and red flames dance.

"I never really thought that far ahead." Nami confessed to the swordsman. "I guess we just sit here by the fire and wait for our clothes to dry out. You can go to sleep if you want."

Zoro let out a small grunt before continuing. "Not really tired right now. Besides; there are still enemies out there, and you're in no shape to fight so I have to stay awake in case they get too close. Feel free to get a little rest if you want though."

"Yeah right" She said sarcastically. "I'll just fall asleep and trust you to not let your hands and eyes just wander wherever they want to. No thanks; I'd better stay awake too."

"Oi" Zoro barked out offended. "Who the hell do you take me for witch, that damn love-cook?"

The mikan-head let out a small chuckle and a sigh before letting her head fall a little forward to rest in the crook of his neck, right under his chin. "I'm only teasing baka. Besides Chopper, you're probably the only other male on the ship who I would actually trust enough to sit here like this with."

"You actually trust me?" Zoro questioned her, a little taken aback by her confession.

"Of course I trust you. You've saved my life more times than I can count, and even though you could get lost trying to find your way around a single room hut, you're always able to make the right decisive decisions and be exactly where you're needed when the time counts." Nami could feel the smile on her face after telling him that. She found herself staring into the blazing fire. She couldn't help but let her mind start to slip to places that she never thought they would. '_If we weren't huddling together like this to keep us from freezing; then this would actually be kinda romantic._' Her thoughts brought another image to her head; her mind flashed to the image of the swordsman approaching her in the water, bringing his face towards hers, before their lips would connect and he would push his own air into her mouth when she desperately had needed it the most.

As she continued to remember the scene under the water; she could almost feel his lips still touching hers. She found it odd how soft Zoro's lips had actually been. Soft was the last word she thought she would ever associate the swordsman with, yet that's exactly what his lips were. A part of her wanted to check if she had only imagined the softness… but would he even let her? Did Zoro giving her his air even mean anything? She had to find out.

Nami removed her eyes from the fire to look at his face. "Hey Zoro" She began speaking, bringing his own attention away from the fire. "Earlier in the water; why'd you do it?" She only got a confused look from the swordsman in response of her vague question. A very light, almost un-noticeable, blush formed on her face as she realized that she would have to elaborate on her question. "Why did you give me your air?"

Zoro's eye widened as he realized what she was referring to, and he had to fight down his own blush before answering. "Because you needed it more than I did."

His answer was too simple and straight-forward for her, she couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to it than that, or at least, maybe she hoped there was. "But you could have just cut the chain and got us to the surface."

The swordsman let out a small sigh before continuing to explain his earlier actions. "You were already at your limit, and you were in pain. I wasn't sure if you could even last the few more seconds it would have took me to get you to the surface. And without Chopper around, I'm not sure if I would have been able to bring you back if you hadn't made it. It was the only thing I could think of at the time."

As his words settled; Nami let her mind go back to those final moments in the water. She remembered the extreme pain of her lungs feeling like they were on fire from what little water had actually entered them. She could still remember the feeling of complete exhaustion and helplessness, and the fact that she had almost quit fighting to stay alive. Again; Zoro had made the right decisive decision when he needed to the most, but… "So would you have done that for any member of the crew?"

Zoro thought about her question carefully; imagining each of his crewmates in a similar scenario, he felt an uncomfortable shiver going up his spine as he imagined the act with some of the odder members of his crew, but the answer was still obvious to him. "I'd like to think that I would at least hesitate if it was the cook, but yeah, I'd probably do the same for any of them."

The swordsman's face took on a confused expression when he noticed Nami's face become a little crestfallen at his answer; had she wanted him to say something else? Did she want what happened in the water to be something that he would have done only for her? He wasn't sure why, but he actually felt kinda bad about answering her question honestly. Part of him now wished that it was something that he would have only done for her, and her to do solely for him, but he knew it wasn't the case; if it was a nakama's life at stake, neither would have hesitated to do what they had felt necessary to keep them alive. But there was one thing he knew that he would not have done if anyone besides her had asked him… "One things for damn sure though; none of the other crew members could ever talk me into stripping down and sharing my body heat with them besides you."

Nami's eyes widened in surprise at his sudden confession "None of them?" She asked with a small smile starting to form on her lips without her knowledge. "Not even Robin?"

"Especially not that woman." Zoro almost scoffed at her question. "You might try to blackmail me, and add to that imaginary debt of yours. But that woman would end up just sitting there the entire time and saying creepy shit. If it was her, I would have just ignored the suggestion and hauled ass through the forest to get back to the ship as quickly as I could. You're better company."

Nami could feel the smile on her face now, and made no effort to hide it. Even though it was a little offhanded, it was probably the nicest thing Zoro had ever said to her. She had the sudden urge to kiss him, but she wanted it to be mutual. "Zoro" She spoke to make sure his attention was on her, and her alone. "Will you give me your air again?" She saw him give her another confused look, as he wasn't sure what she was requesting. "Right now?"

A small smile played at Zoro's lips as her words settled. Without saying a word; he nodded his head to confirm that he understood, before leaning in to line his lips up with hers. Once their lips connected, he proceeded to blow his air into her mouth as he had done so in the water. Upon feeling his air being forced into her mouth, Nami's body grew completely still. Despite her lungs no longer being in pain, and her life not being in danger, she still felt that she had a desperate need for his air as she begun to suck it in. It felt to her as if she was breathing in his entire essence, letting it become one with her own, if only for a moment. Finally; after her lungs could take in no more air, she broke the contact of their lips, and slowly exhaled his air along with her own air, allowing him to inhale fresh air.

Nami breathed heavily for a moment, as she stared intently into his one good eye, checking to make sure that she had not crossed some sort of line with the swordsman. She only got an equally inquisitive stare back of her own, a stare that Nami couldn't let go unanswered as she let go of all her inhibitions and let her sudden need to have his mouth connected to hers take over her. She removed her arms from covering her chest, completely forgetting about the cold around them, so she could wrap them around behind his head. She repositioned her entire body so it was facing him, circling her legs around his waist and locking them together behind his back, before lunging her mouth towards his. As she desperately attacked his mouth, she was relieved to feel his arms tightening around her, bringing her body as close to his as he could, returning her passionate embrace with a heated passion of his own.

As the two continued their powerful lip exchange, each of them wantonly savoring as much of the other as they could, Nami let her mind start to slip into asking herself why she was doing this. Was it just the outcome of her heightened feelings from everything that had transpired that day? Or was it something more? Nami's mind went farther back into her memories, recalling moments when she had wanted to feel his embrace before: the time in Alabasta when he had saved her from Daz Bones, and had later carried her on his back through the streets of Alubarna. And the time she was overjoyed, but was too stubborn to show it, after he finally awoke from his massive injuries that he gained during the conclusion of the incidents at Thriller Bark. The fact is she had longed for his embrace for a very long time, and now that she had it, she never wanted for it end. And she could feel from the passion he was showing her, that he had longed for her embrace as well.

But suddenly Zoro broke the kiss, and not just to take a needed gasp for air. Nami stared at him, wordlessly, waiting for him to explain why, but only getting an embarrassed-blush in response. She got the answer of his embarrassment when she noticed something warm and hard starting to press against the bottom of her buttocks, reminding her of just how exposed the both of them really were. Her nipples almost instantly stiffened from the effects of her own arousal because of what she was doing to the swordsman's body. Her face took on a giddy smile; as she removed one hand from behind his head to caress his face in a tender way, before sliding it all the way down his chest and abdomen in-between the both of them, letting it land on his stiffening member as she lifted her hips to guide it into her womanhood and lowered herself onto him.

Once lowered completely onto him; Nami returned her hand to behind his head, locking her gaze directly onto his. "Don't remove your mouth from mine unless you need to breath; understood?" She ordered Zoro in a very dangerous tone.

The swordsman didn't respond with words, instead he gave her a dangerous look of his own before ferociously attacking her mouth with his own to show he understood. He removed his arms from behind her back, placing his hands on either side of her waist to lift her up the full length of his manhood, before letting her slide all the way back down until he was completely inside her, and then repeated the process all over again. Soon Nami bucked her hips to assist in his movements, falling into perfect rhythm with him. They moaned into each other's mouths with pleasure, completely reveling in the sensations of their bodies being joined together. Each time one of them would break away from the other's mouth to gasp for air, the other would quickly lunge at them to reconnect their mouths back together.

Finally Nami's body reached its limits first; as an earth-shattering climax built inside of her core, she reluctantly removed her mouth from Zoro's to bury her head into the crook of his neck, before her body went rigid and released a flood of both pleasure and her juices from deep within her loins.

Despite Nami's body now convulsing against his own; Zoro desperately tried to reclaim her mouth, but to no avail as she kept her head buried into his neck where he could not reach it. Becoming slightly frustrated, the swordsman quickened the pace of his thrusts, almost violently lifting her up and down the full length of his member until he felt his own climax building. Not wanting to take the chance of getting the mikan-head pregnant, he lifted her completely off his manhood, and then proceeded to remove his hands from her waist, wrapping one arm behind her to hold her as close to his body as he could, while using the other to manually release his seed so it would land behind her and towards the fire. Completely spent; the two just remained sitting in each other's embrace, in content silence, waiting to regain their composure.

Nami was the first to stir, as she righted her back so she could look Zoro in the eye, before leaning in and giving him a final peck on the lips, before turning her body so her back was to his chest and she could gaze at the fire which was now only embers.

With Nami now sitting in between his legs; Zoro reached beside himself to the firewood that he had stacked earlier, and grabbed a couple of logs to toss into the pile of hot embers to get the fire going again. Once satisfied, he wrapped both of his arms around the mikan-head, and let his chin rest on top of her head as they just watched the fire in silence.

After a couple of moments, Nami wrapped her own arms around his, making sure they were securely in place around her. "You do realize that now that I've breathed you in, I'm never letting you go?" She asked him quietly, almost afraid of how he would answer.

She felt a small rumble coming from Zoro's chest as he let out a quiet chuckle. "I kinda figured as much. Hell; even if I tried to escape you'd just blackmail me or indebt me into staying." Nami's face took on a small pout at his words. She couldn't see his face, but she was sure there was a cocky grin plastered across it. But her pout was quickly replaced by a content smile when she felt his arms tighten around her. "But the real question should be: what makes you think I'm ever gonna let you go now?"

Enjoying the feeling of being in his arms, and the knowledge of this new relationship that she knew she now had with the swordsman; Nami sat idly, warmed to her very core despite the cold air that surrounded them. She let her mind slip to all the adventures the two of them had already had together, and the new ones they might have in private, but she didn't have long to think about it as her eyes became heavy and sleep had took over.

-0-0-0-0-

When Nami started to come to; she noticed that it was already morning as the sun was starting to rise. The weather was already starting to change from the conditions of the day before, and it was obvious that is was going to be a warm beautiful day. But the thing she noticed the most was the feeling of Zoro's arms still placed securely around her. She started to wiggle a little to loosen her joints, which was made easier when Zoro's arms unhooked from in front of her and moved to lay dormant by his side. She turned her entire body so she could look at him, only to be met by his stoic gaze. He had been awake the whole night, protectively watching over her. The two of them shared a quick good morning, as well as a quick peck on the lips, before gathering their now dry clothes, and heading for the 1000 Sunny to meet up with the rest of the crew.

Nami watched the ship finally come into view from the comfort of Zoro's back. But before they could even step foot on the ship, they were assaulted by the high pitch wails of the resident chef.

"**NNAAAMMMMIIIII-SSWWWAAAANNNNN**" Sanji howled as he came leaping over the rail of the ship, sprinting towards the swordsman and the mikan-head. "**I WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU MY ANGEL**" Sanji tried to throw himself at the duo, desperate to latch onto his precious 'Nami-swan' with comical tears flowing from his one visible eye, with the only thing stopping him being one of Zoro's arms pressed firmly against the cook's chest, keeping the man only a fingertip away.

"Dammit ero-cook; back the hell off!" Zoro screamed, finding it difficult to keep Sanji back. "I don't need you trying to latch onto her while I'm carrying her."

The blonde chef snapped out of his distressed state after hearing the voice of his eternal rival, only just now noticing the swordsman's presence. "Eh" He said with a disgusted look on his face. "Who the hell are you to tell me that I can't embrace Nami-san? And who the hell gave you permission to carry her in the first place you shitty-marimo?" Sanji screamed at said marimo, after realizing that he was in physical contact with the mikan-head. "If anyone should have the honor of carrying her it should be me, her knight in shining armor. Not some muscle for brains barbarian. She had better have not been injured while you was supposed to protect her." Sanji continued while jumping back a little from the other man, pointing an accused finger at Zoro while getting into a fighting stance.

With his arm now free from holding the cook back; Zoro started to reach for one of his swords, all the while completely forgetting about Nami who was still clinging to his back just watching the whole scene unfold in silence. "She was already injured by the time I got to her swirly-brow! If I had been a couple seconds later, I might not have been able to save her at all!"

"I knew I shouldn't have let you go after her! If it had been me; I would have rescued her long before she got injured!"

"You were too busy worrying about Robin, who was doing just fine taking care of herself, to even notice Nami was even missing. I'm the one who noticed she was gone, and that's why I was the one who went to find her!"

Nami's eyes widened out of shock at the words Zoro had just said. She could no longer hear the argument that the two men were having between them as she pondered his words. '_Zoro had been the first to notice I was missing. He must have been worried about me, and that's why he came looking for me to see if I needed rescuing_.' Nami couldn't fight the smile that found its way on to her face as she tightened her grip around him and let her head rest on the back of his. She was so happy about the knowledge of his concern for her that she had momentarily forgotten about the two men continuing to argue as if she wasn't even present. But she was reminded about the two men fighting as she saw Zoro starting to draw one of his swords out of her peripheral vision.

"Would you two knock it off?" Nami said in a quiet voice, but it still had the effect that she was wanting as the two men stopped their arguing at the mere sound of her voice. "Sanji-kun; I'm fine, really. But I am a little hungry because Zoro and I didn't have dinner last night. Could you go and start cooking something for us, while Zoro carries me back to the ship?"

Both Zoro and Sanji remained silent for a moment, slightly confused by the lack of anger or violence in the sound of Nami's voice. Sanji watched her in amazement as she continued to rest her head against the back of Zoro's with a pleasant and content smile on her face. "Aye Nami-san, anything for you" He answered her with a quite bow, with an understanding look on his face before he addressed the swordsman. "You better take good care of Nami-san" he began saying while pointing a threatening finger at Zoro. "And I'm not just talking about getting her back to the ship; ya hear me marimo?"

"Yeah, yeah" Zoro said dismissively while he sheathed his sword. "Whatever you say cook."

Sanji then turned around and headed back to the ship to start cooking something for the hungry couple, with Zoro and Nami to soon follow.

Once the two of them walked onto the ship; they were bombarded by the rest of the crew with cheers and hugs, as well as questions of what the two had done all night. Though all they got were vague answers from the first-mate and the navigator, all of them had noticed the unusually happy looks on both of their faces considering they had spent the entire night in each other's company. Some of the more mature and wiser nakama could speculate on the reason for the couple's happiness, but none of their nakama ever questioned or showed concern over it. They were all just simply overjoyed just knowing that the two were safe and happy, and excited about the many adventures that would await all of them in near future to come.

**The end**

…

Author notes: So I always wanted to read a story where Zoro had to rescue Nami underwater by providing her some air, and somewhere along the way it became another lemon story (shrugs shoulders).

Sorry if it felt like I kinda rushed the emotions on this one, but let's face it: every ZoNa fan already knows that the emotions are already there, right? ;] They just aren't acting on them yet.

As always; tell what you thought about it, whether you loved it, or whether you hated it. And thank you all so much for taking the time to read!

PS: If any of you are big Zombie Movie/TV Show fans like me and want to read what already has the makings of a great Zombie Apocalypse story. Check out **Mary Lawliet's "Death-Chronicles"** at fictionpress. Most regular ZoNa readers would actually know her by another name here on fanfiction, but that's her business if she wants to tell you who she is or not ;p here's the link: www fictionpress com / s / 3079985 / 1 / Death-Chronicles (Just remember to take out the spaces and add the dots) Trust me; it's a really good read, and deserves as much support as it can get so she might be prompted to update it sooner ;}


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